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Retiree says she was forced out of home after Facebook scam

CLERMONT, Fla. - A retired woman living on a fixed income said a Facebook scam left her homeless.

The woman said she was scammed out of thousands of dollars in a Facebook scheme.

She said she didn't realize her friend's Facebook page had been hacked and it was all a scam.

"I do trust people until they give me a reason not to," said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

"I live on a fixed income you know and I'm 67 years old," she said. "All of this money just seemed like it was saying, 'Come get me,'" she said.

The woman said she received a Facebook message that she believed was from a friend. The message said the friend had won $80,000 and had been paid the following day.

The woman said she received another message saying that she too was a winner. She was told she had won $150,000.

"I just thought, 'Golly, $150,000. I need car so bad,'" the woman said.

The woman said she was told she had to pay taxes on her winning.

She said she depleted her savings and borrowed money. She said in all she sent more than $4,200 to Nigeria using Western Union.

She said she sent some of the money out of fear after receiving a call and text from someone who said they were an agent with the Internal Revenue Service and telling her she had to pay more. The caller threatened to put her in jail.

"She was going to arrest me for money laundering," the woman said. "I was crying and told her I didn't want to go to jail."

The woman's family members got involved and called police, but not before the damage to her finances was done.

"It got me thrown out of my house," the woman said.

The woman said she has found another place to live and is trying to get back on her feet after losing thousands of dollars.